Word has just eaten my files @#!

Aaagh! I’m in the middle of a computer nightmare. Coming in this morning to continue working on a couple of Word files everything looked just as I had left them the night before until I realised that all the work I had done on them yesterday had completely disappeared! It was like groundhog day, but with considerably more aggravation and swearing.

To be fair, a dialog had popped up the day before to warn me that autorecovery saving had been postponed, but I had too many files open to fancy rebooting so I decided to close down some large apps and continue with slightly more Ctrl+S than usual. Everything seemed to work fine and I gave it no more thought.

Clearly during the night, Windows Update had decided to install some patch and shut down Word then rebooted and loaded what it thought was the most sensible files. I’m not sure if this has saved me from a worse nightmare – maybe saving wasn’t working at all and I could have worked on for a couple of days and then hit the problem. However whether it’s Word or Windows, I’m holding Microsoft responsible and in colourful terms.

I’m not quite sure what I should do about this – is a class action feasible? – and am strongly tempted to switch off Windows Update’s auto installing which is always a pain (isn’t this what nag screens are for?) I’m also half hoping that someone knows where my files have gone.

The one thing I do know is that if the dialog reappears I am immediately attempting to save, cutting and pasting into a WordPad backup and rebooting. And I strongly advise you to do the same.

The beginning of the end for corporate cloud computing?

I really hate to say it, but it looks like I have been proven right. Readers will recall how I have been calling for transparancy in the contracts between customers and this new wave of cloud providers. Companies such as Microsoft have been and continue to do their utmost to confuse and layer a smokescreen over the whole liability issue. I have detailed this many times as it has unfolded, and have asked repeatedly for clarification.

In short, these cloud providers are doing their very best to ensure that they hold no liability whatsoever for your data. Their Service Level Agreements can allow for days of downtime per month for an average business that runs from 9am to 5pm. Their liability, at best, is to give you your money back. There is no hope for consequential loss, compensation for downtime and so forth.

Worse still, companies such as Microsoft have decided to take a quite cavalier attitude to where your data is actually held, and despite assurances that it won’t be moved outside of the EU, they are simply not prepared to put that in writing in a clear and unambiguous way. Their contracts are masterpieces of obfuscation and confusion.

Clearly, at some point, this was going to end in tears.

So imagine my surprise (not) to read that, according to a report in SeachCloudComputing, that Eli Lilly, the huge company, has walked away from the cloud computing service offered by Amazon “after failing to come to terms over legal indemnification issues”.

According to the report, Amazon was completely unwilling to take joint liability and accountability for the service provision. Eli Lilly, it seems, has decided that this isn’t in its best business interests and has walked.

I predict this is just the beginning of a long period of pain between cloud customers and suppliers. Many large corporates, such as Eli Lilly, will now be coming to the end of extensive trials and their legal teams will be nailing down the details. It appears, if this report is correct, that the cloud vendors are sticking firm and not wanting to budge.

Of course, if I was in the position of being a cloud vendor, I too would want to take on as little liability as possible, preferably none. Maybe the vendors will find the “pay peanuts, get monkeys” financial model might be enough to tempt star-struck customers in the short term, but is no basis for forming long-term relationships with the big boys.

The real reason Microsoft killed the Kin

The news that Microsoft Kin, the recently released Yoof Fone, has been cancelled should come as a surprise. Microsoft simply doesn’t make decisions this quickly, which clearly indicates the overwhelming badness of the decision to launch the damn thing in the first place.
It was classic big business screw-up. Buy an outside company (in this [...]

Toshiba Libretto W100 dual-screen laptop: first-look review

Microsoft’s Courier tablet might be languishing somewhere in a Redmond wheelie-bin, but Toshiba’s Libretto W100 has turned the keyboard-free concept into reality. With dual 7in touchscreens, a miniature netbook form factor and no sign of Intel’s weakling Atom, the Libretto takes a daring stride into the future.

Stepping out
First impressions are excellent, too. It manages the [...]

Office Web Apps: which type of documents are supported

Microsoft announced its Web Apps today, and indeed we provided a full review based on several months’ experience using them. One question it’s worth answering separately, though, is exactly which type of documents are supported by each web app. So here goes.

Word Web App
This applies to Word documents created in Word 95 or [...]